Serum levels of anticholinergic drugs and impaired recent memory in chronic schizophrenic patients

Abstract

The authors tested working or recent memory in 24 stabilized schizophrenic outpatients who were taking psychotropic medication. Memory performance did not correlate with severity of schizophrenic symptoms, verbal IQ, or serum neuroleptic levels, but there was a significant inverse correlation between serum anticholinergic levels and performance on the memory task. The results suggest that therapeutic doses of anticholinergics may cause subtle impairments of cognitive functions.